More than 20 activities are scheduled throughout the weekend. Workshops, open houses for the Performing Arts Center and Media Entertainment Arts Department, art galleries and movie presentations fill the day’s hours.

Visitors of the event will walk through different buildings of the COC campus to see the diverse art forms provided by faculty, staff and students.

“The emphasis of ARTstART is on the students,” said Associate Professor of Art and Coordinator Chair of ARTstART Committee Michael McCaffrey. “It’s a student- centered event that offers them the ability to publicly display their creative works, which is a major component of the arts.”

Theater, music and dance students will provide entertainment with performances that demonstrate the best in the field.

Theater students will be performing comedic sketches and scripts from their New Works Festival, which takes non-recognized playwrights’ working scripts and has the theater students take the material to the stage.

Dancers will be entertaining visitors with high energy dances after just completing their “Spring Dance Concert” last Thursday and Friday.

The sixteenth annual COC student exhibition has been open at the COC art gallery since April but will stay open for the ARTstART event. The art gallery is where students’ various forms of artwork can be seen. Paintings, sculptures, drawings and photos will be displayed.

The English Department faculty and students are hosting a poetry and writing exposition this year.

Festivities begin at 10 a.m. and the last activity begins around 7 p.m. and ends approximately 10 p.m. Admission to the event is free.

One thousand one hundred and fifty visitors attended this event last year and the program is hoping for more to come this year.

The number of artists participating in the ARTstART events varies but about 25 to 30 are expected to put their creativity on display to the public. A $4,000 donation given by three sources makes this event happen.

“It is through the College of the Canyon Foundation, Associated Student Government and Martin Sosin Foundation that the event is able to be put on,” said McCaffrey. “We are also able to expand in publicity and guest lecturers through these sponsors.”

The Martin Sosin Foundation is based in Santa Monica and has been a supporter for the arts. The foundation helped COC by providing art for the art gallery and has even aided the College of the Canyon Foundation.

For more information on this event and a schedule of the festivities, visit www.canyons.edu/artstart.